Producer Profiles

The panhandle of Texas is the heart of America’s largest cattle-feeding area. More than 6.5 million fed cattle are marketed here each year, accounting for 30 percent of the total U.S. production according to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.

With the recent downturn in market prices, producers are looking for ways to add value to their calves before they hit the market. One alternative is backgrounding. Cimarron River Cattle Company, a custom feeding operation near Kismet, Kansas, specializes in backgrounding calves and preparing them for the feedlot.

When God made man,
He seemed to think it best
To make him in the East,
And let him travel west.
– Anonymous

So the story of Josh Eilers goes like this: Eilers, then a 21-year-old student at the University of Texas and a returned U.S. Army Ranger, is sitting in a bar and chatting with an attractive blonde.

With the recent fall of cattle prices, producers everywhere are looking for ways to make extra money from their quality beef. Jimmy Taylor, who runs roughly 12,000 acres of leased and owned ground with a herd of approximately 600 cattle near Cheyenne, Oklahoma, collects premiums on carcass quality by focusing on genetics to produce top-grade beef.

Over the years, we’ve had a number of Christmas visitors here at our ranch on Withington Creek in the mountains near Salmon, Idaho, and the most memorable were baby calves.